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EXPLANATORY NOTES


INTRODUCTION

1 This publication presents information about prisoners held in custody in Australian prisons at 30 June 2007. A range of information is presented on the demographic and legal characteristics of prisoners such as age, sex, country of birth, Indigenous status, legal status, most serious offence/charge and length of sentence being served.

2 The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has developed national standards for corrective services statistics to ensure the comparability of data between states and territories. While efforts have been made to attain maximum comparability between states and territories, some issues with jurisdictional comparability remain due to different legislative and administrative recording practices in the states and territories. Further detail on these differences is provided in paragraphs 76-91.

REFERENCE PERIOD

3 The National Prisoner Census is a census of all persons in the legal custody of adult corrective services in all states and territories as at midnight 30 June 2007.

SCOPE

4 The scope of the statistics in this publication includes all persons remanded or sentenced to adult custodial corrective services agencies in each state and territory in Australia.

5 Included in the National Prisoner Census are prisoners in the legal custody of corrective services but who, at the time of the census, were:

• absent on an authorised temporary leave permit
• absent from the correctional facility on a work release permit or program
• located in secure wards in a hospital outside the correctional facility
• periodic detainees.

• prisoners who were unlawfully absent from corrective services legal custody, e.g. escapees or prisoners who failed to return from an authorised temporary absence from a correctional facility
• prisoners whose legal custody had been transferred to another agency, e.g. police or mental health institutions.

Types of facilities

8 The types of correctional facilities and programs where prisoners are held varies between the states and territories.

9 Included in the collection are:

• gazetted adult prisons in all jurisdictions
• periodic detention centres in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory
• community custody centres and work outreach camps in Queensland
• cells in court complexes administered by corrective services in New South Wales
• transitional centres in New South Wales
• lock-ups in Western Australia operated by the police but designated as a prison by the Chief Executive Officer of Corrective Services
• gazetted police prisons in the Northern Territory which are administered and controlled by the Director of Corrective Services

• police lock-ups, police prisons and cells in court complexes
• immigration detention centres
• home detention programs
• military prisons
• mental health
• juvenile facilities, including those under the authority of adult corrective services.

DATA SOURCE

12 Statistics in this publication are derived from information on each prisoner collected by the ABS from administrative records held by corrective services agencies within each state and territory.

JURISDICTION OF CUSTODY

13 Persons included in the National Prisoner Census were counted in the state or territory in which they were held in custody regardless of which state or territory imposed the sentence being served.

14 Persons sentenced to full-time custody by the Australian Capital Territory are usually held in New South Wales prisons. The Australian Capital Territory has two remand centres for unsentenced prisoners and a periodic detention centre. A new prison facility is expected to be opened in 2008 and will house persons sentenced to full-time custody. While the Australian Capital Territory commenced detaining some sentenced fine default only prisoners at their remand centre during 2000, persons sentenced to full-time custody by Australian Capital Territory courts are primarily held in New South Wales prisons. Some unsentenced persons from the Australian Capital Territory may also be held in New South Wales prisons when the capacity of the Australian Capital Territory remand centre is exceeded. Data are presented in the tables based on counts of Australian Capital Territory prisoners in New South Wales prisons as a subset of the New South Wales figures (labelled ACT in NSW), and Australian Capital Territory prisoners held in the Australian Capital Territory (labelled ACT in ACT).

INDIGENOUS IDENTIFICATION

15 The ABS is currently evaluating the use of the ABS Indigenous identification standard in Corrective Services agencies (both custodial and community-based corrections). Whilst the ABS has published Indigenous status data in Corrective Services collections for a number of years, quality assurance is required to better understand the level of accuracy over time.

16 The quality of the Indigenous status information collected and recorded in Corrective Services agencies is assessed against the ABS Standard Indigenous Question (SIQ). The SIQ is based upon self-identification by the individual who comes into contact with Corrective Services agencies. The SIQ requires individuals to be asked “Are you of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin?”. The answers to the SIQ can be ‘No’, ‘Yes, Aboriginal’, or ‘Yes, Torres Strait Islander’. If the offender is of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin, both responses should be identified. If an offender does not supply an answer to this question, or is not asked, the Indigenous status field should be recorded as 'not stated'. The standard also requires that the SIQ fields are mandatory in corrective services agency recording systems in order to reinforce the asking of the question, and assist in the maintenance of data quality.

17 As a result, the minimum output categories required in systems are:

• Aboriginal, but not Torres Strait Islander origin
• Torres Strait, but not Aboriginal origin
• Both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin
• Neither Aboriginal nor Torres Strait Islander origin
• Not stated/inadequately described.

19 There are however differences across the states and territories in relation to the recording processes for this data. In Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory, individuals are asked the SIQ on each reception into corrective services custody, and it is mandatory to enter a response to this field in their recording systems. Victoria does not re-ask the SIQ for every subsequent involvement that an individual has with corrective services, and data may also be sourced from other justice sources. In South Australia, it is a requirement for persons to be asked upon reception on each occasion in which they enter custody, however it is not a mandatory field in their recording system. New South Wales does not have Indigenous status as a mandatory field in their recording systems, and does not always re-ask the question for subsequent involvements. Western Australia does not currently comply with any component of the SIQ. At the time of publication, the processes applied in Queensland are yet to be confirmed.

IMPRISONMENT RATES

20 Imprisonment rates enable comparison of prisoner populations across states and territories. Prisoner rates are expressed per 100,000 adult population, which is in accord with international, state and territory practices.

21 Rates for the general adult population are calculated using the preliminary March 2007 Estimated Resident Population (ERP) figures (refer to table A1 in Appendix 1 and to Australian Demographic Statistics, March 2007 (cat. no. 3101.0)).

22 From the 2006 issue of this publication, the adult population figures used in the calculation of rates are for persons aged 18 years and over for all states and territories except for Queensland, where the adult population used is that of persons aged 17 years and over (see paragraph 11). For the 2004 and 2005 issues of this publication, the adult population figures used in the calculation of rates were for persons aged 18 years and over for all states and territories, except for Victoria and Queensland, where the adult population used was that of persons aged 17 years and over. In issues prior to 2004, rates for all states and territories included in this publication were calculated using adult population figures for persons aged 17 years and over.

23 The ERP series are revised every five years to incorporate additional information available from the latest Census of Population and Housing. Imprisonment rates presented in this issue have been calculated as follows:

• 30 June 2007 rates (except for Indigenous rates) are calculated using preliminary rebased data from the recent intercensal period (2001-2006) sourced from the 2006 Census of Population and Housing;
• All other rates are calculated using ERP which is based on the 2001 Census of Population and Housing.

Indigenous imprisonment rates

25 Rates for the Indigenous adult population in this publication are based on the low series projections for 30 June 2007 (refer to table A2 in Appendix 1 and Experimental Estimates and Projections, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, 30 June 1991 to 30 June 2009 (cat. no. 3238.0)). These projections are based on the 2001 Census of Population and Housing.

26 The low series are one of two series of these projections that have been published for the years 2002 to 2009.

• The low series assumes no 'unexplained growth' - that is, the Indigenous population recorded in the 2001 Census of Population and Housing is projected to change only as a result of births and deaths (natural increase) and, for the states and territories, as a result of interstate migration.
• The high series assumes that there will be 'unexplained growth' in the Indigenous population - that is, the Indigenous population is projected to change as a result of an unexplained component in addition to the effects of natural increase and interstate migration. The size of the unexplained component is based on the 'unexplained growth' observed between the 1996 and 2001 censuses.

Age standardisation of imprisonment rates

28 Age standardisation is a statistical method that adjusts crude rates to account for age differences between study populations.

29 There are differences in the age distributions between Australia's Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations with the former having a much younger population. In 2001, the proportion of Indigenous people aged 18 years and over was 54.6%, compared with 75.8% of non-Indigenous people (and 75.3% of the total Australian population). The diagram below illustrates the differences in age distributions.

30 ESTIMATED RESIDENT POPULATION, AUSTRALIA - 30 JUNE 2001

32 By making comparisons across age groups, we know that imprisonment rates decrease in older age groups, i.e. that the imprisonment rate is correlated with age. If we compare overall imprisonment rates between Indigenous and non-Indigenous persons, it is likely that the imprisonment rate in the Indigenous population will be higher because of the larger proportion of young people in the Indigenous population.

33 Age standardised Indigenous and non-Indigenous imprisonment rates have been calculated in tables 4 and 17 of this publication. Ratios of the rates are also included in these. The standard population against which each population is age standardised is the Total Australian Estimated Resident Population at 30 June 2001.

Historical rates

34 In 2005, historical imprisonment rates for reference periods prior to 2004 presented in tables 16 and 17, were recast based on the revised adult age. Indigenous imprisonment rates for 1995 to 2001 are based on Indigenous estimates benchmarked on the 2001 Census of Population and Housing. Indigenous imprisonment rates for 2002 and 2003 are based on Indigenous population projections using the 2001 Census of Population and Housing.

35 Imprisonment rate data for the Australian Capital Territory are calculated on the basis of the total number of Australian Capital Territory prisoners, held in both New South Wales prisons and the Australian Capital Territory. For New South Wales, the imprisonment rate is based on the count of New South Wales prisoners, excluding Australian Capital Territory prisoners held in New South Wales prisons. Time series data have also been derived on this basis. All estimates and projections for the Australian Capital Territory exclude Jervis Bay Territory. All estimates and projections for Australia exclude the external territories of Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands.

CLASSIFICATIONS

Australian Standard Offence Classification

36 The offence categories used for national corrective services statistics in this publication are classified to the division level of the Australian Standard Offence Classification (ASOC), 1997 (cat. no. 1234.0). A detailed listing of ASOC can be found at Appendix 2. ASOC provides a national framework for classifying offences for statistical purposes. Whilst the ABS is publishing 2007 Prisoner Census data based on ASOC, the data recorded by some corrective services agencies are still coded to the Australian National Classification of Offences (ANCO), 1985 (cat. no. 1234.0). This ANCO data is then mapped to the relevant ASOC category. Where there is no direct concordance between the two classifications, the ANCO codes have been mapped as closely as possible to the relevant ASOC categories.

National Offence Index

37 The National Offence Index (NOI) is a ranking of all ASOC Groups and supplementary ASOC codes (ASOC Divisions and/or ASOC Subdivisions). This ranking is based on the concept of seriousness of offence, with a ranking of 1 relating to the ASOC code containing the most serious offence (see Appendix 3). The NOI is used to determine the most serious offence or most serious charge for all states and territories excluding New South Wales and Western Australia.

Country of birth

38 Country of birth information is classified according to the Standard Australian Classification of Countries (SACC), 1998 (cat. no. 1269.0).

COUNTING METHODOLOGY

Episode

39 An episode is defined as the period from an offender's latest date of reception into the custody of a corrective services agency for a particular offence(s)/charge(s) until the person is released from custody. When a prisoner breaches parole conditions and is returned to custody, a new episode is deemed to have commenced and a new reception date is provided. Differences in the application of this rule occur in Western Australia. Further detail on these differences is provided in paragraph 86.

40 In consultation with the National Corrective Services Statistics Advisory Group, the definition of episode changed from the 2003 Prisoner Census, to maximise data comparability across states and territories. There was no change to the data provided by New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and the Northern Territory as these jurisdictions had always provided data based on the definition of an episode as outlined in paragraph 39. These jurisdictions accounted for 65% of the prisoner population in 2002. Prior to 2003, Queensland, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory treated persons who breached parole and returned to custody as continuing a prior episode. These jurisdictions now comply with the standard definition of episode. In Western Australia, as noted in the previous paragraph, there remain differences in the application of the national counting rule. As the revised definition of episode only impacts on prisoners who have breached parole, the impact of this change in definition on time series data is low at the national level.

Legal status

41 The legal status of an offender is determined by the warrant(s) or court order(s) which provide the legal basis for the detention in custody of the offender. Some offenders may have more than one type of warrant issued against them; therefore it is possible for an offender to have dual status (e.g. under sentence for some offences and awaiting appeal results for others, or under sentence and awaiting deportation). The counting rules for determining the legal status of an offender are as follows:

• If the prisoner has been sentenced for any offence then this takes precedence over any other offence(s)/charge(s) for which the prisoner is unsentenced.
• If the sentenced prisoner has appealed against all of his/her sentences then that prisoner is counted as under sentence.

Expected time to serve

43 The expected time to serve is the period of imprisonment which a convicted prisoner is expected to serve and in most cases refers to the time between the date of reception for this episode (see paragraphs 39-40) and the earliest date of release for sentenced prisoners.

44 Date of reception is defined as the date the prisoner was received into prison in a state or territory for the current episode. Counting rules for persons returning to custody from an escape attempt or parole are as follows:

• If an offender escapes from custody and is recaptured and returned to custody, the date of reception is the date the person originally entered into custody prior to the escape.
• If parole is revoked resulting in an offender returning to custody, the date of reception is the date the person was returned to custody. That is, a new episode is deemed to have commenced.

• In Tasmania, if an offender escapes from custody and is recaptured and returned to custody, the date of reception is the date the person was returned to custody. That is, a new episode is deemed to have commenced.
• In Western Australia, if an offender is returned to prison as a result of a parole breach the date of reception is the original reception date (see paragraph 86).

47 The time a prisoner is expected to serve in custody depends upon the sentence(s) originally handed down, the system of remissions and the forms of parole available in the various states and territories and whether any time was spent in custody prior to reception (for example, time on remand or in police custody). The rules governing date of release are complex and differ between the states and territories. The calculation of the earliest date of release in each state and territory is described in paragraphs 48-66.

New South Wales

48 In New South Wales significant legislative amendments came into force on 3 April 2000, repealing a number of Acts of Parliament which were administered by the Department of Corrective Services, namely:

• Correctional Centres Act 1952
• Sentencing Act 1989
• Periodic Detention of Prisoners Act 1981
• Home Detention Act 1996
• Community Service Orders Act 1979.

• Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999
• Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act 1999.

51 Those prisoners with a sentence of three years or less, being a sentence that has a non-parole period, are automatically released from custody at the expiry of the non-parole term. Those with a non-parole term greater than three years may be released by the NSW Parole Board at any time after serving the non-parole term.

Victoria

52 In Victoria, the calculation of expected time to serve is based on either the non-parole period set by court or the aggregate sentence. Time spent in detention prior to the commencement of the sentence counts toward the time expected to be served under sentence. Under the provisions of the Sentencing Act 1991 (as amended), the sentencing rules in Victoria are as follows:

• If a sentence of Life or a term of two years or more is imposed, the court must fix a period during which the offender is not eligible to be released on parole, unless it considers that the nature of the offence or the past history of the offender make the fixing of such a period inappropriate.
• If a sentence of less than two years but not less than one year is imposed, the court may set a non-parole period.
• The non-parole period must be at least six months less than the term of imprisonment and must be in respect of the aggregate sentence that the offender is liable to serve under all the sentences imposed.

Queensland

54 In Queensland, with the exception of sentences of indefinite length such as Life, earliest release date calculations are based on the date an offender was eligible for parole.

55 Release dates are calculated as follows:

• Unless otherwise specified by the court, the parole eligibility date is at half the aggregate sentence length.
• The Corrective Services Act 2006 (Qld) commenced on 26 August 2006. One key provision in the new legislation relates to the management of offenders subject to Court-ordered Parole. This new order provides courts with the power to specify a parole release date for persons who are sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 3 years or less.
• The earliest discharge date indicates when an offender might be discharged if remissions on each term of imprisonment are granted. For those prisoners ineligible for remission, this date would be the same as the full-time discharge date.
• The revised Corrective Services Act 2000 (Qld) commenced on 1 July 2001. Offenders convicted of an offence that was committed on or after 1 July 2001 and sentenced to a term of imprisonment are not eligible to have that term remitted. Offenders convicted of an offence that was committed prior to the commencement of this Act and sentenced to a term of imprisonment of two months or more are eligible to be considered for a remission of up to one-third of that term of imprisonment.
• Corrective services legislation (Section 135 of the Corrective Services Act 2000 (Qld)) enables prisoners with life sentences to apply for parole:
  • if the prisoner is serving a life sentence under the Criminal Code section 305(2)15 - once the prisoner has served 20 years or longer
  • if the prisoner is serving a life sentence under another code - once the prisoner has served 15 years.

• Where a prisoner has not had a NPP, the earliest date of release is the aggregate sentence end date.
• Where a prisoner has a NPP and an aggregate sentence of less than five years, the earliest date of release is the end date of the NPP.
• Where a prisoner has a NPP, and an aggregate sentence of five years or more, the earliest date of release is the earliest date the prisoner can be released by the Parole Board. If this date has expired and no further release date has been set by the Parole Board, the earliest date of release becomes the aggregate sentence end date, which in the case of Life or Other indeterminate sentences would be unknown.

Sentences less than 12 months

58 For sentences less than 12 months expected time to serve is determined as follows:

• Before 31 August 2003: the expected time to serve is calculated between the sentence start date and the two-thirds time date or effective date of release (EDR).
• On or after 31 August 2003: the calculation of the expected time to serve is based on half of the maximum sentence as the prisoner may be released on Short Term Parole at the Earliest Eligibility date (EED) after serving 50% of the sentence.

• Sentence Imposed before 31 August 2003:
  • Where no parole term is specified, the minimum sentence is calculated between the sentence start date and the two-thirds time date or effective date of release (EDR). If that Minimum Sentence is more than 12 Months, the prisoner will be eligible for release on a Re-Entry Release Order (release is subject to approval by the Prisoners Review), and the expected time to serve is calculated up till the Re-Entry Release Eligibility date (RRED). If the Minimum Sentence is 12 months or less, the expected time to serve is calculated between the sentence start date and the two-thirds time date or effective date of release (EDR).
  • Where a parole term has been specified, the minimum sentence is calculated between the sentence start date and the Earliest Eligibility Date (EED). If that Minimum Sentence is more than 12 Months, the prisoner will be eligible for release on a Re-Entry Release Order (release is subject to approval by the Prisoners Review Board), and the expected time to serve is calculated up till the Re-Entry Release Eligibility date (RRED). If that Minimum Sentence is 12 months or less, the expected time to serve is calculated between the sentence start date and the Earliest Eligibility Date (EED).
• Sentence Imposed on or after 31 August 2003:
  • Where no parole term is specified:
    • For sentences equalling 12 months, the prisoner must serve the full term and the expected time to serve is calculated up till the sentence expiry date (maximum date).
    • For sentences greater than 12 Months the prisoner will be eligible for release on a Re-Entry Release Order (release is subject to approval by the Prisoners Review), and the expected time to serve is calculated up till the Re-Entry Release Eligibility date (RRED).
  • Where a parole term has been specified:
    • For prisoners sentenced before 29 January 2007, the minimum sentence is calculated between the sentence start date and the Earliest Eligibility Date (EED)
    • If that Minimum Sentence is more than 12 Months, the prisoner will be eligible for release on a Re-Entry Release Order (release is subject to approval by the Prisoners Review Board), and the expected time to serve is calculated up till the Re-Entry Release Eligibility date (RRED).
    • If that Minimum Sentence is 12 months or less, the expected time to serve is calculated between the sentence start date and the Earliest Eligibility Date (EED)
    • Prisoners sentenced to a parole term on or after 29 January 2007 are not eligible for release on a Re-Entry Release Order and the expected time to serve is calculated between the sentence start date and the Earliest Eligibility Date (EED)

61 If an offender is returned to custody for breach of an early release order, the expected time to serve is calculated from the original sentence start date and days spent outside prison are deducted (see paragraph 86).

Tasmania

62 In Tasmania the calculation of expected time to serve is based on the totality of the sentence liable to be served minus one-third, but shall not operate so as to reduce the sentence below three months.

63 From 1 October 2002, as a result of legislative change, the courts are required to set a term of imprisonment comprising a maximum term and a minimum term. Prior to the legislative change, the courts set a fixed term of imprisonment.

Northern Territory

64 In the Northern Territory sentence remissions for new prisoners were abolished on 1 July 1996. Expected time to serve is therefore calculated as follows:

• Prisoners whose sentences commenced prior to 1 July 1996 will be discharged with one-third remissions or at the expiry of the non-parole period, as approved by the Northern Territory Parole Board. If the parole date has elapsed, the date eligible for remission is used (if applicable) or else the full-term expiry date is used.
• Prisoners sentenced after 1 July 1996 have an expected time to serve based on their non-parole period (if this date has elapsed the EDR becomes the full-term expiry date), a fixed release date or an earliest release date based on a suspension of sentence after a set period of time.

Australian Capital Territory

66 Prisoners sentenced in the Australian Capital Territory and who are held in New South Wales prisons are subject to New South Wales calculations for date of release.

Mean/median sentence length and time on remand

67 Calculations of mean and median sentence lengths and time on remand are affected by the reference period used. For the Prisoner Census, information relates to the characteristics of prisoners at a point in time (the night of 30 June), rather than the total prisoner population during the year. During a year, a large proportion of prisoners who go through the prison system serve short sentences (i.e. less than a year) or on remand for shorter periods of time, while at any point in time the majority tend to be prisoners serving longer sentences or have been on remand for long periods of time. The impact of this is that when the total population of prisoners during a year is considered, the large number of short sentences and short periods of time on remand will result in lower mean and median sentence length and time on remand values compared with means and medians calculated from point in time data.

68 From 1994, indeterminate or periodic detention sentences have been excluded from the calculation of mean and median aggregate sentence length and expected time to serve.

69 Between 1995 and 2001, prisoners who had a 'Life with minimum' sentence were not included as part of the calculation of the mean and median sentence lengths for prisoners' expected time to serve in prison. From 2002 they have been included. Their inclusion has slightly increased the mean for the expected time to serve, but has had a negligible impact on the median value for expected time to serve.

MOST SERIOUS OFFENCE/CHARGE

Sentenced prisoners

70 For sentenced prisoners in all states and territories except Tasmania, the Most Serious Offence (MSO) is the offence for which the prisoner has received the longest sentence in the current episode for a single count of the offence, regardless of the possible result of any appeals, and regardless of whether the sentence for that offence has actually expired at census date. Where sentences are equal, or the longest sentence cannot be determined, the MSO is the offence with the lowest (numerical) Australian Standard Offence Classification (ASOC) code. For example, if a prisoner has two offences coded at the ASOC Group level: 0711 Unlawful entry with intent, and 0412 Dangerous or negligent driving, the MSO would be allocated as 0412 Dangerous or negligent driving, as this is the lowest ASOC code. In the Northern Territory the Australian National Classification of Offences (ANCO) is used to determine MSO rather than ASOC.

71 In Tasmania, magistrates and judges have the capacity to provide global sentencing i.e. a combined sentence for all offences. An individual offence will not have an identified period of imprisonment, so it is not possible to identify the offence with the longest period of imprisonment. The MSO is therefore determined by applying the National Offence Index (NOI).

72 From 2004, the MSO for prisoners who have breached parole and returned to prison, is determined only from the breach offence and any new offence(s) committed while on parole (the original MSO is excluded from the determination). This differs in Western Australia where offences from previous episodes are considered in the selection of MSO, due to the episode definition applied by Western Australia (see paragraph 86).

Unsentenced prisoners

73 Prior to 2006, all states and territories applied the Most Serious Charge (MSC) for unsentenced prisoners by determining the charge which carries the longest statutory maximum penalty. From 2006, the NOI is now used by Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory. For 2007, the Northern Territory also applies the NOI. The remaining states and territories continue to apply the charge which carries the longest statutory maximum penalty. Where penalties are equal, the MSC is the charge with lowest ASOC. There are some state and territory variations:

• In New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, if a prisoner is convicted but as yet unsentenced for at least one charge, the MSC is selected from those offences for which convictions have been recorded.
• In Western Australia the MSC is always determined by calculating the lowest ANCO Code.

• Where an episode comprises orders/sentences of various levels of court, the level of court relating to the most serious offence (MSO) is recorded.
• An appeal court is recorded when it has altered the length of sentence of the MSO/charge.
• For prisoners not under sentence, the level of court which has issued the most recent remand in custody warrant is recorded.
• Prisoners held under a Department of Immigration order or under the authority of the Parole Board are recorded as 'other'.

New South Wales

76 In New South Wales, the Kariong juvenile facility operates under the authority of Adult Corrective Services. These prisoners are excluded from this collection.

77 In September 2006, NSW opened the Compulsory Drug Treatment Correctional Centre (CDTCC). The CDTCC is an interagency endeavour - primarily between the Department of Corrective Services, Justice Health and the Attorney-General’s Department. A multidisciplinary team at the Centre ensures treatment, rehabilitation and reintegration of male participants who have repeatedly offended in order to support a drug dependence.

78 Amendments to the Bail Amendment (Repeat Offenders) Act 2002 restrict the availability of bail for three classes of defendant:

• those accused of having committed another offence while on bail or parole, or serving a sentence for another offence;
• those who have a previous conviction for absconding on bail; and
• those who are charged with an indictable offence who already stand convicted of an earlier indictable offence.

80 In March 2006, Victoria opened Marngoneet Correctional Centre, Lara. The focus of this facility is to provide intensive treatment and offender management programs for males that have a minimum of six months of their sentence left to serve when they arrive there. The new Metropolitan Remand Centre at Ravenhall was opened in April 2006. This facility provides increased capacity to hold prisoners awaiting trial or sentencing.

81 On 1 July 2005, the Children and Young Persons (Age Jurisdiction) Act 2004 came into force in Victoria. This Act changed the definition of a child from a person under 17 years of age to a person under 18 years of age. As a consequence the definition of an adult also changed for corrective services data to a person aged 18 years and over. Data prior to 2006 includes persons aged 17 years.

82 For 2002 and previous years, when a prisoner was held on remand and then sentenced to a term of imprisonment as part of the one episode, the time on remand was considered a separate episode of imprisonment for the purposes of determining whether a prisoner had known prior adult imprisonment. This practice was inconsistent with the national counting rule for the Prisoner Census and resulted in an inflated number (and proportion) of Victoria's prisoner population with known prior adult imprisonment under sentence. From 2003 the national counting rule was adopted for recording known prior adult imprisonment in Victoria.

Queensland

83 The Corrective Services Act 2006 (Qld) commenced on 26 August 2006. One key provision in the new legislation relates to the management of offenders subject to Court-ordered Parole. This new order ensures that offenders serve 100% of their sentence under supervision, either in a correctional centre or under community supervision. This new order provides courts with the power to specify a parole release date for persons who are sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 3 years or less. Technical breaches of parole orders are no longer heard by a parole board and can often result in a person serving the remainder of their original sentence in custody. Court-ordered Parole is not available to sex offenders or serious violent offenders.

84 In September 2005, Queensland implemented a new offender management system - the Integrated Offender Management System (IOMS), resulting in an under enumeration of prisoners with known prior imprisonment. For this publication, the ABS has imputed prior imprisonment data for 2006 (revised) and 2007 as an interim measure.

85 Commencing from 2003, the prisoner census includes those prisoners who are held in community custody centres and work outreach camps in Queensland.

Western Australia

86 Where prisoners were returned to prison partly or wholly as a result of breach or suspension of early release orders, a new episode is not deemed to have commenced and the date of reception is based on the date the person originally entered into custody, prior to being released on the early release order. Therefore, time spent in prison for the original sentence has continued to be included in the calculation of expected time to serve and aggregate sentence length data and will result in a higher mean and median duration for these data items in comparison with other states and territories (see paragraph 67). In light of legislative changes effective from 31 August 2003, it is essential for Western Australia to have a continuous series of comparable information to enable the monitoring and evaluation of the impact of the new legislation, therefore it cannot comply with the current ABS counting rule.

Tasmania

87 The new Risdon Prison Complex in Tasmania was opened on 28 August 2006. This complex includes the Mary Hutchinson Women's Prison which was opened in May 2006. A new men's maximum/ medium security facility was also built within the complex.

88 The growth in the prison population in Tasmania recorded for 2005 has primarily resulted from an increase in the number of remand receptions over the 2004-2005 period. There had been no specific policy change causing this increase in remand receptions.

89 From 2003, the most serious offence/charge data for Tasmania has been determined by the application of the National Offence Index as the longest sentence can no longer be attributed to a single offence (see paragraph 71).

Northern Territory

90 In 2005, Northern Territory implemented new quality assurance processes in the extraction of their prior imprisonment data. The result of these processes has been an improvement in the quality of prior adult imprisonment under sentence data.

Australian Capital Territory

91 In 2002, all periodic detainees with a current warrant were included in the census count (i.e. including those who were in breach of an order). Consequently, the periodic detainee population increased from 2002. In 2006 periodic detainees who were in breach of an order for more than three months were excluded from counts to ensure consistency with the scope of this collection. Consequently, the periodic detainee population decreased from 2006.

CONFIDENTIALITY

92 Table cells containing small values have been randomly adjusted to avoid releasing confidential information about particular individuals.

ADDITIONAL DATA

93 A standard set of additional tables containing state and territory equivalents of the tables in this publication is available on the ABS website. Special tabulations can be produced on request to meet individual user requirements. For further information, contact the National Centre for Crime and Justice Statistics by email through <crime.justice@abs.gov.au> or the contact person listed on the front cover of this publication.

RELATED PUBLICATIONS

ABS publications

94 Other ABS publications which may be of interest include:

Australian Demographic Statistics (cat. no. 3101.0) - issued quarterly
Australian Social Trends (cat. no. 4102.0) - issued annually
Australian Standard Offence Classification (cat. no. 1234.0) - irregular
Corrective Services, Australia (cat. no. 4512.0) - issued quarterly
Crime and Safety, Australia (cat. no. 4509.0) - irregular
Criminal Courts, Australia (cat. no. 4513.0) - issued annually (previously titled Higher Criminal Courts, Australia)
Experimental Estimates and Projections, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, 30 June 1991 to 30 June 2009 (cat. no. 3238.0)
General Social Survey: Summary Results, Australia (cat. no. 4159.0) - irregular
Information Paper: Measuring Crime Victimisation, Australia: The Impact of Different Collection Methodologies (cat. no. 4522.0.55.001) - single issue
Information Paper: National Information Development Plan for Crime and Justice Statistics 2005 (cat. no. 4520.0) - single issue
Measuring Australia's Progress (cat. no. 1370.0) - issued annually
Migration, Australia (cat. no. 3412.0)
Personal Safety, Australia (cat. no. 4906.0) - issued 10 August 2006
Recorded Crime - Victims, Australia (cat. no. 4510.0) - issued annually
Sexual Assault in Australia: A Statistical Overview (cat. no. 4523.0) - single issue
Working Papers in Econometrics and Applied Statistics: No 2003/2 Dynamics in Repeat Imprisonment: Utilising Prison Census Data (cat. no. 1351.0)
Year Book Australia (cat. no. 1301.0) - issued annually

96 Non-ABS sources which may be of interest include:

Australian Institute of Criminology, List of Publications - irregular
<http://www.aic.gov.au>
Crime Research Centre, University of Western Australia, Crime and Justice Statistics
for Western Australia - issued bi-annually
<http://www.crc.law.uwa.edu.au>
Department of Corrective Services, New South Wales,
NSW Inmate Census - irregular
<http://www.dcs.nsw.gov.au>
Department of Justice, Northern Territory, Northern Territory Quarterly Crime and
Justice Statistics - issued quarterly
<http://www.nt.gov.au/justice/>
Department of Justice, Victoria, Statistical Profile of the Victorian Prison System
- issued annually
<http://www.justice.vic.gov.au>
NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, New South Wales Criminal Courts
Statistics - issued annually
<http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au>
Office of Crime Statistics and Research, South Australia, Crime and Justice in South
Australia - issued annually
<http://www.ocsar.sa.gov.au>
Steering Committee for the Review of Commonwealth/State Service Provision,
Report on Government Services - issued annually
<http://www.pc.gov.au/>